Sibley, Iowa — Sibley firefighters were called out on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 for a call near Sibley.
According to Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls, about 7:30 a.m., the Sibley Fire Department was called to the report of a hog barn fire at 5756 140th Street, three miles north and five east of Sibley.
The chief says that when the department arrived, the fire was out. He says workers had been doing some remodeling in the empty hog barn, and the pit had been cleaned out. But, he says a spark from their work must have lit some trapped gas. He thinks it was probably pit gas, which is mostly methane. He says the fire was basically no more than a flash, and it quickly used up the gas and was out. According to Huls, they had a similar call a couple of weeks ago, but that pit was not empty. Huls suggests caution with pit gas. He says it needs to be ventilated properly because not only is it flammable, but it can suffocate you as well.
Huls says no injuries were reported. He says when they got the initial call, they did ask for the Ocheyedan firefighters to be paged, because as Huls says, “With a hog barn fire, you can’t be too careful. You need to get extra water rolling as soon as possible.” But Huls tells us they did tell the Ocheyedan Fire Department that they could disregard.
Chief Huls reports that there was no damage. He says crews were on scene only for a few minutes.
